Why women should lift weights…….

A new client of mine called up to set up an appointment and she sounded really desperate. Her first query was that she has flabby hands and she wants me to plan a diet to make the fat disappear or in her words blast the fat away.

I explained to her that there is no such diets for any specific body part. We look at the body as a whole unit. The only solution for flabby arms is weight training. On hearing the word weights, she said she does not want muscles and look like a body builder.

This is some of the most common queries I am asked “Can you give me diet to lose my belly fat” or as such as the example above.

Women have the common fear for developing muscles and looking muscular, hence they shun away from weights. But weight training is the best to tone up and look lean. Women can never get bulky as they have different body composition from men. Men have more muscle and less fat while women have more fat. Secondly, women have very low levels of testosterone hence it is not possible for women to bulk up. So is is quite safe to lift weights. But yes, the formula would be light weight probably less than 10 pounds or less than 4 kilos and more number of reps.

Other than looking lean, there are many other benefits:

It helps to increase your upper body strength as women have very low . So this helps you to carry anything without looking out for help from a man. So you get stronger to do your daily chores. So girl, you get independent.

Helps to lose body fat and develop lean muscle. The more muscle you have, higher is your calorie burning capacity. So you keep burning calories so you become lean and mean calorie burner.

Decreases risk of osteoporosis and this can be coupled with adequate dietary calcium for better results.

The risk of injuries in your daily common activities comes down. You are less prone to arthritis and helps to strengthen the joints.

Lesser risk of heart disease in women and weight training especially after forty is very important. Can lower your bad cholesterol and increase your good cholesterol.

Positive changes in attitude can happen as you feel stronger and feel better. So the chances of depression decreases. You will remain with the wonderful feeling of confidence and compliments start pouring your way.

So once you start your weight training routine, you can now get those clothes which you were dreading to wear out of the closet.

Sanjana M Shenoy is a A dietitian from Mangalore, Karnataka, India.
Having worked as a Dietitian for the Manipal Group of Hospitals namely KMC hospital Mangalore, India.She is also a consultant for corporate's like Infosys and others, conducting talks and presentations for various associations and local television shows.She consults at her Diet and Nutrition clinic "Nutrihealth" in Mangalore.Also is a visiting consultant to various hospitals in and around Mangalore and also runs an active online consultation.